Chapter 7 : The Interwar Years

After the War

After the war ended the returning soldiers and the growing population needed jobs

Many who could not find jobs moved away to Canada or the United States

The fishery was still the main employer but after the war demand for salt fish decreased and the prices dropped

When there was lots of fish and prices were good the economy was good

In years when fish was scarce and/or prices were low the economy suffered.

Depending on one product was therefore risky and government and business people felt that this situation must change

They decided they needed economic diversification – economic development that depends on a variety of industries rather than one industry

Government tried to start industries in production of explosives, fertilizer and peat processing

Some industries failed completely while others had different levels of success

Mines were developed in St. Lawrence and Buchan’s and the forestry industry developed on the west coast and in Labrador

Government concentrated on land-based industries – industries related to agriculture, forestry and mining

This caused people to move away from the shoreline and to settle inland

Newfoundland and Labrador experienced a period of expansion as new towns grew up in the interior

This caused a big change in the lifestyles of the people that worked in these industries

Mining

Most of the mining today is in Labrador

During the 1800’s most of the mining in Newfoundland was copper and iron ore

Buchan’s Mine

The mine at Buchan’s was discovered in 1905 by Mathew Mitchell,

The ore at Buchans consisted of zinc, lead, copper, gold and silver

This mine didn’t begin production until 1927 due to a lack of technology

The mining company built a company town in the wilderness

Within 3 years, Buchans had a mine a mill, a school, a church, a hospital, a hydroelectric plant and homes for the miners

It would have been one of the most modern towns in the dominion at the time

St. Lawrence

A fluorspar mine was developed in St. Lawrence in 1933.

St. Lawrence was a fishing town that had its fishing grounds destroyed by the tidal wave in 1929

Many people were living in poverty as the Great Depression had begun in 1929 as well

The mining company took advantage forced them to mine 2000 tons of fluorspar for free before they would be paid

After that they were paid only $0.15 per hour as compared to $0.22 paid in Buchans and in Bell Island

The working conditions were very poor - the air was filled with dust and smoke because the shafts were not ventilated

The shafts often flooded and the miners didn’t have proper safety gear

They did improve their standard of living but the poor conditions caused many health problems later in their lives

Forestry

Forestry was the first industry that moved people into the interior

Between 1890 and 1900, 200 sawmills were developed.

By the 1920’s many of them were closed because of the over cutting of suitable trees

There was a strong demand for newsprint worldwide so new pulp and paper mills were opened in Grand Falls (1909) and in Corner Brook (1925)

Many families gave up the unpredictable life of fishing and decided to take logging jobs for a regular paycheck

Some Mi’kmaq worked as loggers as fur prices were very low during the 1920’s and 1930’s

Since Grand Falls was not a port, the town of Botwood became the shipping center for the Grand Falls mill

By the 1930’s the export value of pulp and paper was bigger than the value of fish exports

People in Grand Falls and Corner Brook lived comfortably through the Great Depression and the following years with steady jobs and income and a modern town in which to live.

This was far different than the fishermen’s lives during the Depression

Labrador

In Labrador, during the early 1900’s, fur prices were strong and forestry provided jobs.

The Innu suffered because the bigger population was destroying much of the game that they depended on for food

In 1907, NL and Canada argued over Labrador - the dispute was put before the highest court in England

In 1927 the court gave Newfoundland the coast line and all the land that had rivers flowing to the Atlantic Ocean

The land grant was actually twice as big as the island portion of the province

When Newfoundland gained control of Labrador it led to some development in forestry.

Family Life and Women’s Roles

When men were hired in industrial jobs lifestyles changed dramatically

Steady wages gave the whole family a better standard of living

Men might be away at lumber camps for months or working shift work which meant women must take a bigger role in raising the family

Subsistence farming and living under the truck system were no longer factors in their lives

Women did not have to help with the curing of fish which had taken up so much of their time

Some women left small towns and went to St. John’s, Canada or the U. S. to become domestic servants

Disasters and Crises :A) The 1929 Tidal Wave

On November 18th, 1929 an earthquake on the Grand Banks caused a tsunami which hit 40 communities on the South Coast

Waves as high as 15 meters destroyed buildings and boats and killed 27 people

People from all over Newfoundland and the British Empire donated money to help those affected

The next few years were bad ones in the fishery . Many people believed it was because of the damage done to the ocean floor

B) The Great Depression

The Great Depression, a major downturn in the economy, began in 1929 and affected the economy all over the world

Newfoundland was hit very hard because of a poor fishery that included low prices.

Between 1929 and 1932 ,the value of the fishery fell from

$ 16 000 000 to $ 6 000 000

Government money also declined and the public debt grew to 100 million dollars from money borrowed for the railway and the war effort

Government could no longer borrow money to help people and many people had to turn to social assistance (known as “the dole”) to survive.

Being on the dole was considered a disgrace and the amount of money they received was inadequate.

In some ways rural Newfoundland was better off than many places because people could hunt and fish for food as well as grow their own vegetables

St. John’s Riot of 1932

People became desperate during the Great Depression. Many people were hungry and did not have enough money to survive

There was a riot in Carbonear where a group of men asked for a raise in the amount of dole

People sometimes broke into merchant’s stores out of desperation to get food for their families

In 1932 the government was desperate for money and decided to raise duties on imported goods.

Since most of Newfoundland’s basic food items were imported, this drove up the cost of living

They also laid off government workers to save money which created more unemployment

Prime Minister Richard Squires was accused of paying himself $5000 a year from money meant for war veterans and widows

The Colonial Building was looted and much of the furniture was destroyed or burnt in a bonfire outside the building

Richard Squires was hidden inside and later escaped through a side door

Commission of Government

After the St. John’s Riot Richard Squires dissolved his government and called an election for June 11, 1932

The United Newfoundland Party led by Frederick Alderdice won 25 of the 27 seats

The new government was heavily in debt and was spending two-thirds of all its revenue on paying the interest on the debt

The British gov’t gave NL a loan on condition that they allow a royal commission to study NL’s public affairs

The Amulree report concluded that NL’s political leaders were incompetent and had caused NL’s financial problems

They suggested that Newfoundland suspend responsible government and be run by a group of commissioners

On Dec. 2nd, 1933, we voted to give up responsible gov’t

The people of the province were not given the chance to vote on the proposal but there was very little opposition

NL became the only self-governing dominion to voluntarily give up Responsible Government

The chart you have been given illustrates the cause and effects that led up to Commission of Government

Commission of Government Policies

The C o G was made up of 3 commissioners from NL, 3 from Britain and was led by a British Governor

The commission did not have to involve the NL population in any decisions and was responsible to the Dominion Office in Britain

They tried to improve education, health care, law enforcement and agriculture

Land Settlement Scheme

The idea was to take families on public relief and place them on homesteads so they could feed themselves

Each family had to have an adult male who must work on community projects and clear land

Children attended school and helped on the farms and were taught such things as carpentry, cooking, gardening, running a dairy and nature study

It was very expensive and failed because:

Many settlers were from the city and not used to farming

Many settlers felt isolated and lonely

People did not like supervisors bossing them around

Education

Before C o G the NL gov’t had established a teacher training school at Memorial University College

The commission felt that church-controlled schools was causing problems because of untrained teachers and poorly equipped schools

They felt education was needed for Newfoundland to become a self supporting and prosperous place

They tried to get rid of the denominational education system but met with too much opposition from the churches

In 1943 education was made free and compulsory

By 1949 the number of schools had doubled and there was a new more modern curriculum

City schools were generally large and well equipped whereas rural communities often had one room schools

Health Care

During the 20’s the gov’ financed only 2 hospitals, the General Hospital and the Mental Hospital

Other hospitals were financed by churches, companies in company towns or charitable organizations like the IGA

An organization called the Newfoundland Outport Nursing and Industrial Association (NONIA) was formed in the 20’s to improve health care in rural NL

NONIA raised money to pay the salaries of British nurses/midwives who would be located in outports

Money was raised by having outport women knit clothing which was sold in a store on Water Street. This tradition continues today

The gov’ planned to improve health care but the extreme debt and the onset of the Great Depression spoiled their plans

The Commission of Government took over responsibility for health care and was faced with major problems

Many people (7% of the population) had tuberculosis and many other people had vitamin deficiency diseases such as beri-beri.

Many outports were small and isolated and could only be reached by boat making it difficult to provide health care

The Commission of Government set up a Department of Public Health and Welfare that built 12 “cottage hospitals” by 1944

A hospital ship, the Lady Anderson, was bought to provide health services to the southwest coast where communities were isolated and small and could not support a hospital

The Grenfell Association provided health services in NL and rural nurses were expanded from 8 to 54